Brand gender and cross-gender extension 2007 Thought Leaders International Conference on Brand Management Brand gender and cross-gender extension Nathalie Veg Doctoral Student, Essec Business School, Paris Simon Nyeck Professor, Essec Business School, Paris

Research context Managerial context Brand extensions are important : To develop a brand To generate profits Especially in the luxury sector, brand extensions are important to maintain a double digit growth There are several types of extensions: Product extensions Line extensions Vertical extensions Cross-gender extensions (male market ↔ female market) Current trend Especially present in the luxury sector Expliquer le configuration du marché du luxe pour comprendre le besoin de développement

Research context Theoretical context Many research have analyzed : Product extensions and line extensions Vertical extensions (up or down) But there is : No research on cross-gender extensions Although there is a current trend on brand development, especially in the luxury sector Very few research on luxury brand extensions and no research on cross-gender extensions in the luxury sector Although luxury brand growth is a current managerial issue, and we can observe many cross-gender extensions Expliquer le configuration du marché du luxe pour comprendre le besoin de développement

2. Research purpose The cross-gender extensions  Cross-gender Extensions (with an application in the luxury sector) How masculine brands enter on female market ? How feminine brands enter on male market ? Which processes they use? How do they transfer their codes in order to maintain the brand desirability?

3. Theoretical background What is the brand gender ? What is the success factor of brand extension ?

3. Conceptual background The brand gender What is a brand? Brand identity Stable values for a better brand management Brand identity in the cultural anthropology Invariant, brand meanings that are shared with consumers in a given culture The permanence underneath disruptions, changes and innovations Brand identity Aesthetic invariants Ethic invariants Recognizable signifier of the brand The brand representations (product, design, physical attributes) Intangibles signified of the brand The brand vision of the word (its personnality, its philosophy)

3. Conceptual background The brand gender Gender = one of the different types of brand cultural invariants Semantic opposition « femininity vs masculinity » Man and woman relationship Subject (active in the relation) Object (submissive in the relation)

3. Conceptual background 3. Conceptual background Succes factor of brand extension: the consistency The congruence between the brand and the extension Concept and (concrete and abstract) value consistency The more the extension and the brand shared their values, the more the extension is likely to be successful Gender (feminine and masculine) included in brand values But no research has analyzed this type of congruence (gender) in the cross-gender extension field General research proposition according to the academic literature: If the extension gender is consistent with the brand gender, then the likelihood for having a successful cross-gender extension will be great

4. Research questions Are the brand gender and extension in a new gender segment consistent/congruent? How do the brands translate theirs values in the new segment ? how do they transfer their aesthetic (physical) characteristics of femininity or masculinity and/or their ethic (intangibles) values of these stereotypes? Which relationship can be defined between male and female? Representative figure

5. Qualitative methodology and data Qualitative methodology to understand the meanings of the brands Structural semiotic analysis to study the invariant meanings, the “signifier” and the “signified” of the brands (Courtès, 1991, Floch, 1990) Brand gender (aesthetic and ethic) Extension gender (aesthetic and ethic) Relationship between man and woman Comparisons of brand and extension codes and values and the consistency analysis Corpuses of the brands communications (new segment and original gender) with images of ads, products, window stores and web sites since their creation. Data: 4 masculine brands: Audemars Piguet, Hugo Boss, Montblanc and Rolex 4 feminine brands: Aubade, Cartier, Chanel and Lancôme Choice criteria: Brand with gender Luxury brands because of the cross-gender extension trend Brands that illustrate several product categories

6. Preliminary Findings Brand Gender CHANEL Brand Gender Women, Woman products Fashion, jewels, cosmetics, codes of sensuality, beauty, long hair, sexy, many accessories… “Audacious” “Perfectionist”, “Unique”, “Passionate and visionary”, Determined look, Independante Feminine aesthetic Masculine ethic

6. Preliminary Findings Extension Gender CHANEL Nacked man in a red sheet, Long hair, pulped lips Same products for women and men Tender and soft man Far from traditional virility Feminine aesthetic Feminine ethic

Brand Gender and Extension Gender 6. Preliminary Findings CHANEL Brand Gender and Extension Gender Feminine aesthetic Feminine aesthetic Masculine ethic Feminine ethic No relationship Independante woman that doesn’t need man

6. Preliminary Findings Brand Gender AUDEMARS PIGUET Watches, straight forms and writing, octogonal form watches (Royal Oak) Metal or dark colors Mecanisms “Audemars Piguet is The Maître Horloger since 1875” Technical how-know, tradition, strength, sports, skills, competence… Masculine aesthetic Masculine ethic

6. Preliminary Findings Extension Gender AUDEMARS PIGUET Curved form watches, Italic writing of Femmes du Monde… Octogonal form watches (LRO): the same man watche with just few modifications: diamonds « Femmes du monde », sophisticated women, beauty, sensuality Feminine aesthetic Masculine aesthetic Feminine ethic

Brand Gender and Extension Gender 6. Preliminary Findings AUDEMARS PIGUET Brand Gender and Extension Gender Feminine aesthetic Feminine aesthetic Masculine aesthetic Masculine ethic Feminine ethic Man subject Woman object

6. Preliminary Findings SUMMARY

7. Findings discussion Discussion of the results

7. Findings discussion Discussion of the results Maximal Consistency, conform to the academic literature Successful for some cross-gender extensions but not all (Aubade, Hugo Boss) Discussion of the results

7. Findings discussion Discussion of the results Aesthetic consistency Success for LRO But failure for Chanel cross-gender extension (male market) because of the no relationship, and the Chanel woman personality

7. Findings discussion Discussion of the results No consistency Failure of the cross-gender extensions (like predicted by the academic literature)

7. Findings discussion Summary Like predicted in the academic literature, consistency is a success factor for extensions and more precisely for cross-gender extensions But even if consistency is a first step to maximize cross-gender extension success, others factors can interfere Importance of consumers perceptions (desirability) Importance of the different product categories

7. Managerial implications Three steps are necessary for managers to know if theirs brands can enter on a new market (male or female): Analysing the brand gender (its aesthetic and its ethic) Having in mind to maintain its values (the consistency): brands have to respect their gender when they want to enter on new gender market Analysing the consumers desirability for the cross-gender extension: The desirability for the different product categories in a cross-gender process can be different for a same brand